Discussion Topics for Today's Classroom

Posts Categorized: Women in IT

Over the last few decades, Melinda Gates’ philanthropy has taken her to all corners of the globe. But recently she’s come to focus on an issue much closer to home: a dearth of women in tech. Source: Bloomberg Date: May 3rd, 2018 Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-03/how-melinda-gates-is-tackling-tech-s-gender-problem Discussion 1) What is your program and business school doing to encourage women in… Read more »

From gender-neutral bots to period-friendly healthcare trackers, cars with more storage and clothes with bigger pockets – the world could be a very different place if there were more women working in tech. Source: BBC Technology News Date: October 25th, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37605943 Discussion 1) Can you think of other gender-biased ways technology has evolved? 2) Can you… Read more »

After five back-breaking years in a coal mine, Laucher feared his job would be next to be cut. Then the unthinkable happened: Laucher learned how to write computer code. “I could barely get to a website, let alone build one,” says Laucher, 33. Now he also supports his family with a second job building websites for… Read more »

“It’s important to talk about the biases — but that’s just one part of the story,” said Ghadiyali, 30. “A huge part of the story is also about a woman’s success in this field.” Ghadiyali, who earned her master’s in industrial engineering and worked as a research assistant in health care, said the fact that… Read more »

Computer code written by women has a higher approval rating than that written by men – but only if their gender is not identifiable, new research suggests. The US researchers analysed nearly 1.4 million users of the open source program-sharing service Github. They found that pull requests – or suggested code changes – made on… Read more »

A video created by American computing giant IBM aimed to “reengineer misperceptions about women in tech, and to focus on what really matters in science”. Women working in science and tech were asked to “hack a hair dryer”, then share their work on the IBM website. Source: BBC Technology News Date: December 8th, 2015 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-35027902 Discussion 1)… Read more »

Intensive programs like Dev, which says it’s the longest running coding bootcamp, are designed to morph you into as a job-ready, full-stack web developer, and immerses students into coding, starting with the very basics. Source: Cambio Date: November 26th, 2015 Link: http://www.cambio.com/2015/10/27/dev-coding-bootcamp-girls-tech/ Discussion 1) “I was just convinced that everyone was going to be coding on the… Read more »

Whitney Wolfe, a co-founder of dating app Tinder, says she wants her new company to disrupt the sector, and cut back on the amount of online harassment directed towards women. She describes her start-up Bumble as a “feminist dating app”, where men are typically more polite, because women make the first move. Source: BBC Tech Date: November… Read more »